Drawing trees
Posted: September 6, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 9 CommentsMy students love field trips. In fact I think most students love a chance to escape the classroom setting, and today I surprised them by dragging them outside to draw trees. They didn’t really have to be dragged, of course, because it’s one of those gorgeous September days — hot and humid — that we all savour because we know what’s ahead in the coming months. I am fairly certain that if I asked them to draw a tree from memory I would get a series of lollipop shapes on paper — symbols of trees rather than naturalistic ones. Today they had to draw from observation and for some of them it was the first time. We looked at how the trees on campus are shaped, the ratio of trunk to foliage, the way some of the leaves are in front of the trunk and some behind, and how to draw them in contour. The results were shocking to me and to the students! Each and every tree was keenly observed, finely drawn and there wasn’t a lollipop in the bunch.
My drawing was done a little earlier with a Lamy pen and a Pentel brush pen in the cemetery next to the school.
Very dramatic Shari! Cast shadows are great!
Thanks Gail. I love drawing with the brush pen. It’s like painting and drawing at the same time.
this is fantastic. love the shadows!
Thanks Genine!!
I love watercolor, but a good black and white always puts a smile on my face. And your drawing just made me smile a lot. Thanks.
And a great comment always puts a smile on my face. Thanks for that Filipe.
It’s always so rewarding to have a successful art class with one’s students. it would be fun to see their well observed drawings also Shari 🙂 Where can we buy the Pentel brush pen and
the Lamy pen? Also, great perspective!
Thanks Mary. Maybe one day I will post their drawings.
I bought my Lamy pen online at Amazon.com, not .ca
I bought the Pentel pen in Portland but I’m sure it’s available here at de Serres. Here’s a link to the pen on Amazon so you can see what it looks like:
http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Pocket-Brush-Refills-GFKP3BPA/dp/B002LJRKN8
Thank you so much for the info Shari, the Pentel receives excellent reviews and will
look forward to trying it out 🙂